Los Angeles -- - Had the A's not celebrated a Hollywood ending and won their division, the most remarkable baseball story in Bay Area baseball Wednesday would have been the National League batting championship that Buster Posey won with a .336 average.

Posey went 0-for-2 in a 5-1 loss, which ended the Giants' regular season at 94-68, and became the fourth catcher in the league's 137 seasons to win the batting title. He is the first since the Braves' Ernie Lombardi in 1942, and the first Giants player to take the crown since Barry Bonds in 2004.

To do so, Posey had to return from a crushing leg injury and dominate at the plate while playing the most physically demanding defensive position. That he started 29 games at first base along with 111 behind the plate helped him stay fresh enough to complete the feat.

Also, Posey would have finished second had the league not accepted a petition from disgraced teammate Melky Cabrera to withdraw. Cabrera finished at .346.

"It's amazing. It really is," pitcher Ryan Vogelsong said after watching his catcher take the title. "It's amazing considering how beat up those guys get out there, battling aches and pains, foul tips off their shoulders and hands, not to mention the ones that hit you in the facemask and rattle your brains a little bit."

After the game, the team gathered to present a gift to Posey, who called it "special."

"You're with these guys every day the past eight months. It feels good to enjoy this with them," he said.

Posey credited the training staff for keeping him healthy, his hitting coaches and, yeah, even himself for learning how to make adjustments in the middle of at-bats to give himself the best chance to get hits.

After winning the first batting title by a Giants catcher, Posey made it clear that is the position he wants to play.

"It's hard for anyone really to understand it unless you're back there doing it," he said. "But I love it. I like to catch."

Manager Bruce Bochy, a former catcher, called Posey's batting title "incredible" and said, "To come off a devastating injury like he had, to bounce back and not only have a good year but to win the batting title, that's amazing to me.

"Now that he's won the batting title, my hope is he wins MVP. I'd hate to think where we'd be without him."

Posey drove in the only Giants' run Wednesday in eight innings against Clayton Kershaw, who won the league ERA title at 2.53. Posey hit a scoring grounder after Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single and Pablo Sandoval doubled.

Vogelsong got no decision in his final regular-season start. He ended with one earned run over 17 innings in three starts. He was pulled after 71 pitches, which suggests he is in line for a Division Series start, though Bochy said he could use Vogelsong in relief in the early games.

"At this point, I'd love the opportunity to start a playoff game," said Vogelsong, who has not been to the postseason. "At this point, it's not about me. It's about us. If they decide I should go to the bullpen, and it's best for us, that's what I'm going to do."

The Giants finished eight games ahead of second-place L.A. Their 94 wins match the seventh-most in the San Francisco years.